A Series of Firsts
by Fedzgurl
Summary: Please notice the change in title formerly called A Troubled Beginning. Full Warnings and Disclaimer inside. AN added on 914.
1. Chapter 1: A Troubled Beginning

Author's Notes: Hey guys, I'm still working on "Tutelage," my Snape-Lily fic, I just had this stuck in my head for a few days and figured I'd get it out. This could actually probably be categorized as a tag to Tutelage… it's too long to fit in the story and can be read by itself, but it's in the same universe and vein. Like Tutelage, this story is backstory to a scene we witnessed in _Order of the Phoenix_ (I'm just not saying which one)

Warnings: This story has minor spoilers for both OotP and HBP, so if you haven't read either of these but plan on it, you may want to wait and come back to this later. Additionally, this fic contains both child and spousal abuse, as well as sensitive religous topics. Read at your own digression. 

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, and a good half of this story belongs to JKR. I'm just a huge fan trying to make sense of her books.

AN2: Before someone asks, a lot of the words in italics are Severus' own; hence the reason the grammar is off. I can speak English, and the intent behind them was to be cute – I hope they aren't too confusing. At any rate, I think this was the longest pre-story blurb in the history of so w/out further adieu…

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**A Troubled Beginning**

Severus Snape had been fiercely proud of his independence since the moment he'd taken his first step, and even now, in the summer following his fifth birthday, the boy had changed little in his pigheaded attempt to protect his autonomy.

Groaning a bit, he stretched his small arms as far as was possible before giving a mighty leap; scowling when his tiny fingertips were still over a foot short of his mother's book he was trying so vainly to reach. There was likely no physical way for the small boy to possibly reach the tome, and deep in his mind he had ascended to the fact minutes ago; but besides the damage it would do to his pride, he knew there was no way his parents would fetch the book for him if asked.

Frowning anew, Severus stretched his arms above his head, going as high on his tip toes as his little trainers would allow him. They'd never allow him to have the books on the top two shelves; they insisted they were too _advantaged _for him, and he wouldn't be ready to read them until he was _older_. But the fact his parents always seemed to miss was that Severus already _was_ a Big Boy, he was the best at sounding letters and words out in his primary class, and there simply was no reason for them not to allow him to read the big books on the top two shelves.

Rolling back to the soles of his shoes Severus crossed his arms across his thin little chest, frowning up at the book shelf and debating what his next strategy would be. He knew his father was just in the next room, and would undoubtedly hear him pushing the coffee table across the sitting room; but there didn't seem to be any way for him to reach the book without help.

Suddenly, his mother's words occurred to him; something she'd told him after a bedtime story recently. _Remember Severus, if you truly want something bad enough, you will always have the means to get it. You can do anything, sweetheart._

The wheels began turning in the little boy's head. All he had to do was want it? He knew he really did, but that didn't explain why he didn't have it yet. _You can do anything… if you truly want something bad enough._

With a frustrated sigh he raised his hands above his head one last time. _I DO really want it._ He thought silently. _I really really really really want that…_

Severus gasped and opened his eyes, finding the book raised shakily above his head, clasped in his small hands. With a wild grin he sprinted to the couch in the middle of the room, placing the book on it before climbing up himself. Immediately he yanked the book open and began to turn the pages of it; there were no pictures, which was a disappointment, and even the letters he could sound out didn't make the words make any sense to him; but he still reveled in the smell and feel and look of the book, to the point that he didn't even notice that most of his chin-length black hair had fallen into his face. The little boy enjoyed quite a few minutes of bliss before being interrupted.

"Severus?" He heard his father's voice ask. The boy pushed his hair from his face and looked to the entryway where his father was standing. "Look it!" He crooned, beaming at his father and holding the book up high enough that it teetered in his thin arms; in order for the man to better see the book his son had retrieved _All By Himself, Thank You. _

Tobias Snape's eyes flicked from the large book in his young son's hands to the open spot on the top shelf of the bookshelf. "And how on Earth did you get that down, you little imp?" He asked, but the slight playfulness in his voice and the tug of a smirk on his lips ensured Severus quickly that he wasn't in trouble.

"I wished it, Papa!" He beamed.

Tobias Snape allowed himself a chuckle as he leaned on the doorpost. "Wished it? One can't wish a book off of its shelf, especially not one that heavy."

Sliding off of the couch Severus grinned and walked over to the bookshelf. "But I _can_, Papa. Watch."

Looking at another of the old, heavy, leather-bound books Severus closed his eyes and scrunched his face up in concentration, once again raising his arms above his hand and standing on his very tip-toes.

_I want the book…_ he thought to himself…_ I need the book to show Papa. I want the… _

Turning with a grin the little boy once again raised the book so that his father could see it. To his surprise, however, Tobias wasn't in a rush to praise his son's ingenuity – he wasn't even smiling anymore. On the contrary, Severus' Papa was looking at him like he was the scariest thing he'd ever seen.

Without a word Tobias strode forward and yanked the book from the small boy's hand, returning it to the shelf, but never taking his eyes off of his young son. "You stay here." He growled, "And don't try anything else." With very loud and fast steps the man made his way into the house's small kitchen, picking up an outdated phone that Severus knew was only to be used when something very, very, _very_ bad had happened.

"Papa!" He exclaimed, beginning to run toward the man. "It was on accident! I just wanted the…"

"**_Hush up and stay where you are, boy!" _**His father hissed at him; but it was the look of pure hatred on the man's face that rooted him where he stood.

Severus felt tears begin to well up in his eyes as he watched his father speak in quick, rushed tones into the telephone receiver. He didn't know who he was talking to, or what they were talking about, but he knew that it wasn't good and he was in Big Trouble, now. After hanging the phone up, his father strode back into the sitting room and kneeled down so that he was eye level with his son; his facial expression never softening.

"Truth be told, I've always wondered," Tobias all but snarled into the frightened boy's face, and Severus couldn't help but whimper. "I always wondered if I'd be right, but your mother always insisted against it."

"What, Papa?" Severus asked, sniffling and trying to stop the tears running down his cheeks.

His father's eyes glittered wildly as he glared at the boy, baring his teeth and grabbing his thin arms with long, work callused fingers. "Papa, you're hurting me!" Severus whimpered, trying to pull away from the pincer grips on his upper arms.

"**_DON'T call me that!_**" Tobias growled, shaking the boy. "I'll only allow my **_son _**to call me that!"

"But**_ I _**am…" Severus began, only to be cut off as he was harshly jerked toward the front door of their small house.

"No, but you will be… God help me, I should have done this the day you were born…"

"PAPA! You're scaring me!" Severus finally sobbed, trying to pull away from the man. Ignoring the child's distress, Tobias continued dragging his small son out of the house.

"MUMMY! MUMMY PLEASE HELP ME!" The little boy finally shrieked, his eyes wide and pleading as he fought to escape his father.

"What in the bloody hell is going on?"

Severus was quite certain that he'd never been more happy to hear his Mummy's voice, not even the time one of the boys who played by the mill had tripped him and _broked_ his nose. His father loosened the grip on his arm for a moment, and Severus took the opportunity to wrench himself free and flee to hide behind his mother's skirts, tears still stinging in his eyes.

Tobias glared at the two of them, before addressing his wife. "I've told you a thousand times, Eileen, there is something the matter with that boy. And for all of the times you've argued it, I have proof now. You aren't stopping me, I've already called Father Williams – he's waiting for us at the chapel."

Severus shuddered into his mother's skirt, infinitely thankful that she hadn't been there to witness the book as well, but at the same time frightened at the length of time it took her to respond. Why did Papa want to take him to the church, and why was he being so scary and mean about it?

"Tobias, you're being ridiculous, just as you have been in the past." Eileen Snape began.

"NO Eileen!" Her husband shouted, cutting her off. "No, you're being blind AGAIN. I've been telling you for five years, babies aren't that quiet, or that attentive, and the strange little things that happened when he wanted something weren't _coincidences._ I always said there was something funny about that boy – today I watched the bloody book fly off of the shelf and into the little demon's hands! I will NOT stand idly by and allow my son to be possessed!"

Severus sobbed again into his mother's skirt – he wasn't a demon, and he wasn't possessed; he'd remembered those words from church, and while he knew he was bad sometimes, he was certain that the devil wasn't in him. He wasn't _evil_, he'd just wanted to read one of the books from the top two shelves.

"It was on accident, Mummy." He moaned into the back of her legs. "I just wanted to read the book and it was _on accident!"_

Slowly, his mother turned and removed his face from her skirt, and for a horrifying moment Severus expected her to agree with her father and escort him to church. His worries were soon eased when she tucked a stray lock of hair behind his ear, then cupped his cheek in her hand. "Sweetheart, your papa and I need to have a big person talk. Would you please go to your bedroom and wait for us there?"

Severus had barely shut the door behind him when his parent's voices rose again. Wanting to have an early warning as to the outcome of the fight, he cracked his door open ever so slightly and rested his ear to the opening.

"No, you're not going to touch him." He heard his mother say, obviously having missed his father's comment prior.

"Eileen, you can NOT pretend that this is in any way _normal_, I watched it with my own bloody eyes – he never touched the book, or the bookshelf; he closed his eyes and reached and the damned thing dove to his hands!"

It was quiet for a long time after that, and Severus held his breath, preparing to shut the door in case he heard footsteps. Instead, after a _forever_ had passed, his mother spoke.

"Tobias, what happened, was…" She faltered, and Severus worried that this may be the first time his Mummy wouldn't have the words to stand up for him. "Today was more normal than you could imagine." She added with a sigh, "I just wish that I'd have been here to see it."

Again, silence ruled in the Snape house as Severus all but hung on his doorknob, now pressing as much of his small body to the opening between the door and the wall as possible.

"Excuse me? Moving books without touching them is normal?"

"For a powerful and intelligent little wizard growing into his powers, yes." His mother snapped so quickly that Severus was certain he'd misheard her. Apparently his father felt the same way.

"_Wizard?_" He spat, "the bloody hell – my son's been corrupted by the devil and my wife's mind is completely addled."

"Oh, would you STOP already with the ruddy muggle religion!" Eileen shouted at him. "You honestly think my parents disowned me because you were poor? If you didn't notice, we barely had 2 knuts to rub together…"

"… two _what?_"

"… and the only reason they were so upset was because I was marrying a deadbeat and giving up my magic in an attempt to appease him!"

At this pause, Severus chose to be bold and stick his head out the door. They were _poor_? And he and Mummy could do _Magic_?

He quickly decided that Papa looked even scarier than he had before, and he suddenly began laughing. "You're bloody insane woman, you know that?" Severus slipped into the corner of the sitting room, hoping he'd be unnoticed.

His mother tipped her chin up proudly as she faced her husband, before drawling, "You're afraid of us, Tobias."

Severus couldn't help but scream as his father backhanded his mother to the floor, and while he knew it would draw attention to him, he curled in on himself and sobbed as his father leaned over her cowering form on the floor. "No, Eileen, you're quite wrong." He stated in a voice cold enough to make Severus shiver in his corner. "I'm hardly afraid of my downtrodden wife and oddball son, or the weird fantasy world they've decided to live in. Instead, I consider it my duty to… shall we say, mend your ways." His eyes flicked quickly to Severus' trembling form, although the little boy was too distraught to see it.

Without another word he crossed the small room, stooping to pick up his now hysterical son. When the boy refused to cooperate he grabbed him by the hair, hauling him to his feet despite the howls of protest. They were nearly to the door when Tobias stopped short, as if he'd run into an invisible wall.

Both father and son turned with a start, and Severus sobbed aloud again at the sight that met them. This time it was his Mummy who looked the crazy one, standing in the middle of the room, her eyes alight with fury – pointing a funny stick at his Papa.

"Let my son go." She said coldly, not moving the stick or her glare from her husband.

Tobias Snape began to speak, but before a discernable sound was made there was a flash of red and he was thrown against the nearest wall of the sitting room. Completely horrified, Severus took the opportunity to sprint to his room and hide under the bed.

To his great surprise, no one came to retrieve him again, and after a time he crawled into bed. With fresh tears in his eyes, the boy realized that he couldn't decide whom to be more afraid of – his father with his rough hands and loud voice, or his mother with her stick that had clearly _hurt_ his Papa.

Choking back sobs the little boy finally fell asleep that night, one thought occupying his mind as he drifted off… he was quite certain that he'd never take the risk of wishing for something again.


	2. A Note from the Author

Hello all! First off, thanks so much to the people who have read and enjoyed this story really appreciate you taking the time to read my work.

After a bit of thought and some debate with my friends, I've decided to change this into a series of vignettes in the life of young Severus Snape. All will be compatible with my other story, _Tutelage_, and all will also follow canon through book 6.

These likely won't be written for a while, as I would like to dedicate some more time to _Tutelage_ and my school work is picking up a bit, but please stop back in the future, as this will become a running story.

Thanks,

Fedzgurl


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